Zinedine Zidane's honeymoon period as Real Madrid boss continued as the Frenchman saw his team put a dreadful Sporting Gijón to the sword in a 5-1 mauling at the Bernabeu.

All three of Madrid's much-vaunted 'BBC' frontline had scored inside the first 13 minutes as the hosts ran riot against the second-bottom Asturians.

Bale's glancing header from a Toni Kroos header set them on their way, before Cristiano Ronaldo smashed home a delightful half-volley on the spin to double their advantage.

Karim Benzema's acrobatic volley made it three before Ronaldo turned home a Dani Carvajal cross and Benzema smuggled home a fifth.

The visitors got a consolation goal in the second half after Gareth Bale had been taken off with an injury, but the result was never in doubt.

So what did we learn? Ed Malyon was there:

Head strong Gareth

Bosh: Gareth Bale scores the opening goal (Image: Denis Doyle/Getty)

"What, me?": Bale celebrates his header (Image: REUTERS/Andrea Comas)

Heart to stomach: Bale's fine game was cut short by an injury (Image: Denis Doyle/Getty)

Gareth Bale's remarkable form continued as he took just seven minutes to break the deadlock.

It was the Welshman's 13th goal of the season, meaning he's levelled his mark of last year by mid-January, and it extended his lead as Europe's most prolific marksman of headed goals.

While we saw plenty of Bale's aerial prowess at Tottenham and in vital moments of his first year at the Bernabeu, last season it was strangely absent.

With renewed freedom afforded to the front three, who are allowed to interchange and float, Bale has found himself in better positions to mismatch with defenders and capitalise on his stature and athleticism to become Europe's Air Force One.

Down and out: Gareth Bale injured himself before half time (Image: REX/Shutterstock)

With two months of fitness and some dazzling displays behind him, Bale appeared to be over the issue, but Real Madrid confirmed to MirrorFootball that they will now undertake tests to establish the severity of his injury.

Ronaldo gets started

One of the most memorable things about Zinedine Zidane's first game in charge - - was Cristiano Ronaldo's child-like frustration as everyone around him scored goals and he couldn't.

The crowning moment of this somewhat peculiar situation was a final-minute sliding tackle in the opposition half, the likes of which we haven't even seen from Ronaldo in a Champions League final, followed by his close-range scuffed effort being saved and falling for Karim Benzema to thump home.

Cristiano was, as you can imagine, delighted to see his teammate score *ahem* and Bale and Benzema left the field with all the plaudits.

(Image: AFP/Getty)

(Image: REUTERS/Andrea Comas)

(Image: REUTERS/Andrea Comas)

Today though, he was back to goalscoring form. It's been far from a vintage Ronaldo season but he's quietly sneaking up the goal charts mainly thanks to some big hauls rather than consistent scoring.

The first was a spinning volley on his left foot, cleanly hit despite his motion, that flew into the top corner.

He doubled his tally by tapping home Dani Carvajal's excellent low cross, which reminds me...

Oh Dani boy

Right-hand men: Bale and Carvajal's link down that flank has been key (Image: Victor Carretero)

Dani Carvajal, for whatever reason, couldn't get himself into the Madrid team under Rafa Benitez.

Maybe it was a choice made on training ground performances, perhaps it was pressure from Florentino Perez (who had spent £30million on Danilo last summer) to go with the new guy.

Either way, it was the wrong choice.

Dani Carvajal is the best right-back in the squad and his performances in recent weeks have far eclipsed anything Danilo did this season.

In this game he was involved in four goals and dominated the right flank, allowing Gareth Bale to roam around in search of goals until Welshman's unfortunate injury cut short his afternoon.

Zidane's tactics? Probably not

"Do stuff": Zidane with some inspiration for his player (Image: Denis Doyle/Getty)

For now there's little to read into a game where Madrid were 4-0 up inside 20 minutes and the visitors looked like they had given up.

But there can be no doubt that Zidane's men are playing with freedom and enjoying themselves.

Even so, this was a comfortable win brought about by a ludicrous technical superiority that comes from buying the best players in the world, not through some spark of tactical genius.

Hal of a player

Alen Halilovic will have better games at the Bernabeu and he will have bigger games at the Bernabeu.

The Croatian starlet was always going to be an interesting story today because he is on loan from Barcelona playing in the home of their great rivals.

He was taken off at half-time after struggling to make a mark on a game where Madrid simply ran riot in the first half.

But anyone who has watched him this season knows what a talent he is. From afar he looks like a young Luka Modric with his lank hair and slight stature, but he's more direct and aggressive in his play.